1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device which allows a person the opportunity to exit a skyscraper or other high object quickly during an emergency, such as for example a fire in a high rise building. The device is a high altitude escape pod that can be quickly and easily strapped onto the body of a person with a vest and harness provided on the pod and which will self inflate and self deflate based on the pod sensing changes in altitude that would come about as a result of the person who was wearing the pod descending rapidly from an upper floor of a building or from another high location. This device might also be used by window washers or for the airline industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
Emergency escape by an individual from a burning high rise building or other high object has generally been by the individual travelling or being transported to the top of the building and being air lifted off of the top of the building, or alternately, by the individual travelling or being transported down a stairwell of the building to the ground. These two routes of escape can present difficulties since access to the roof top of a high rise building is often prohibited due to safety issues, and movement down a stairwell may become physically blocked during an emergency or may be impossible for persons with certain disabilities.
As has happened tragically in some high rise building fires, such as for example in the Twin Towers fires, individuals who become trapped in a tall building and find it is impossible to escape any other way will sometimes resort to jumping out windows of upper floors of the building and falling to either death on the pavement below rather than face the inevitable pain and horror of death by fire or suffocation.
The present invention is designed to be worn by an individual who finds himself in a situation where he must exit an upper floor of a high rise building by jumping out a window. The invention is in the form of a vest that the individual can quickly and easily strap onto their body before jumping. It is important that the procedure for donning the vest be simple enough that anyone that can fasten an airline seatbelt will be able to operate this device with only minimal prior knowledge. Simplicity is important since an individual who will be putting on the vest will be under extreme stress and will be putting the vest on in a hurry.
The vest is provided with sensors that detect changes in altitude and motion. The sensors will, upon detection of a change in altitude and movement, automatically activate the vest to quickly self inflate a pod that expands to surround the body of the individual wearing the vest such that the pod will be fully inflated very soon after the individual jumps from the building and before the individual falls a significant distance. The pod will be sufficiently large to cushion the body as the pod strikes objects or strikes the ground below. It is the goal of the invention to provide sufficient cushioning and protection to the body of the individual as to prevent the fall from resulting in a fatality.
A plurality of the vests can be stored for long periods of time in specially designed cabinets. These cabinets would be located in areas of a high rise building where the vests would be easily accessible to occupants of the building if and when needed.